UConn Fraternity Sanctioned in Post-Party Death Investigation

STORRS, CT — The hosts of a party attended by a University of Connecticut student who died after being run over by a fire department vehicle purchased beverages with a fraternity debit card, an arrest warrant indicates.

The fraternity, Kappa Sigma, has since been suspended and is prohibited from serving as a UConn student organization in any capacity until May 5, 2019, university officials said. The purchase involved 10, 30-packs of beer and five bottles of vodka, according to an arrest warrant.

The woman who died also wandered out of her university residence after being safely transported home, according to a warrant.

State police on Friday announced that six were arrested in the case.

The incident was on Oct. 16. The student killed was 19-year-old Jeffny Pally, who lived at 87 Northbrook Drive, West Hartford. According to the warrant, Pally was dropped off to her university residence by a car service, but somehow wandered out of it and wound up behind the UConn public safety complex at 1:15 a.m., when the fire department received a call.

A warrant indicates she was legally drunk and it outlines lax supervision of underage attendees at the party.

Pally wound up asleep with her back against the door of a unit police described as Bay 7 at the UConn Public Safety Complex. The call required the UConn Fire Department shift commander, veteran Dana Barrow, to respond in a 2010 Chevrolet Tahoe, parked inside Bay 7, according to a police report.

The door to Bay 7 opened vertically, causing Pally to fall back onto the ground, police said.
As the vehicle exited Bay 7, the right side of the car traveled over Pally and she died as a result, police said.
At the request of the State's Attorney Office and UConn police administrators troopers from Troop C, Mansfield and the Connecticut State Police Crash Analysis Reconstruction Squad responded to the scene and assumed the investigation.

Barrow is still on administrative duty, UConn officials said.

On Jan 31, arrest warrants were applied for at Rockville Superior Court related for the hosts of the off-campus party attended by Pally, state police said.

On Friday, state police announced the arrests.
Arrested were:

• Patrick Callahan, 21, of 51 Baxter Road, Mansfield. He was charged with eight counts of permitting a minor to illegally possess alcohol, state police said. His bond was set at $2,500.
• Matthew Moll, 21, of 51 Baxter Road, Mansfield. He was charged with eight counts of permitting a minor to illegally possess alcohol, state police said. His bond was set at $2,500.
• Austin Custodio, 21, of 117 Boyce Road, Pine Bush, NY. He was charged with the sale/delivery of alcohol to minors, and his bond was set at $5,000, state police said.
• Dominic Godi, 21 (he was 20 at the time of the incident). He was charged with possession of alcohol by a minor and the sale/delivery of alcohol to minors and his bond was set at $2,500, state police said.
• Dylan Morose, 22, of 51 Baxter Road, Mansfield. He was charged with eight counts of permitting a minor to illegally possess alcohol, state police said. His bond was set at $2,500.
• Jonathan Polansky, 22, of 15 Sherman St., Beverly MA. He was charged with eight counts of permitting a minor to illegally possess alcohol, state police said. His bond was set at $2,500.

All six posted bond and are due in court on March 8, state police said.

According to an arrest warrant, Pally died from blunt trauma to the torso and head.

Video surveillance cameras near the incident show Pally being unsteady on her feet and trying to use a call phone, according to an arrest warrant.

Photo Credit: UConn; State police; YouTube